6 week old fighting her naps.

[Han12345]

Hello.

I'm quite new to this and haven't had time to fully read the book but have the basics of EASY. So please bare with me. I'm not all up to date with the lingo either but here goes...

I am BFing my LG and feeding her more or less every 3 hours. I had to give her the dummy at 4 weeks to ensure she lasted 3 hours in the day. Otherwise I was feeding on demand every 1.30hrs.

She naps great if we are out and about but if we are home she is terrible and I'm getting tired of battling with her. I try do; eat, then activity for 30-45mins which includes changing nappy, chatting with me snd sometimes her jungle gym or tummy time then sleep till she is due her next feed. We have just really noticed her getting overtired so I'm conscious of how important her routine is. After her feed we try get her relaxed by her first yawn.

I stayed home yesterday to try get her routine more and she did really well. I had to give her the dummy when I put her in her Moses basket (downstairs) but then she would fall so fast asleep the dummy would fall out and she didn't mind. She only seemed to wake when she had tummy ache/ wind which was about 30mins after she fell asleep. I managed to get her dummy back in and she went back off to sleep till feed time I think the wind is causing her a lot of pain which isn't helping us keep the routine either. We are using gripe water

Today has been a totally different story and she's just been crying and fighting when I try get her to sleep. Every time I have put her down she has tried to fight it. Spitting her dummy out and crying each time so I've spent most the time putting it back in. Then eventually I would pick her up and she would fall asleep in my arms, so I put her down asleep and she would wake again. Then I don't know what to do about her routine because she has been awake so long. I spend the rest of the time trying to get her back to sleep till she is due her feed. Then usually after her feed she is already yawning so we don't get much activity time.

What should I do if she wakes when she is meant to be sleeping? Do I keep trying to get her back down? Do we do activities or will that make her overtired?

She sleeps well at night and I don't use the dummy at all. Fingers crossed it stays that way.

Thanks for your advice. X

[lily_layne]

6 weeks is a common age for LOs to fight naps. There's a big brain leap at that age that compels them to want to stay awake and learn about the world. Since she is still so very tiny, I would set an amount of time you're willing to try get her to sleep in her moses basket. After that, I would just rock (or feed) her to sleep (or pop her in a sling or swing). It's unlikely for a major prop issue to develop at such a young age. Also, don't fret about the dummy. If she needs it and likes it, I would give it to her. Some babies just really need to suck.

If she wakes early from a nap, I would set an amount of time you're willing to try to resettle her and if she doesn't go back to sleep, move on with your day. Remember, that EASY is a routine not a schedule and it is totally normal for each day to be different at this age. It's also normal for each A time and nap to be different. Sometimes she may need just a short A time and others she may be calm and needing more and nap length varies a lot too. It's all part of the newborn package.

Savour those newborn snuggles!

[Lindsay27]

My LO is 6 weeks too and sometimes things will work perfectly...she will wake, eat, have A time (about an hour) then take a 2hr nap bringing us to her next feed.  This usually happens for the first nap of the day, everything is downhill after there lol.  Other times she'll only nap 30mins, 45mins, or 1hr.  I completely agree with pp, set an amount of time you are willing to work on resettling (I do about 15mins) and if she isn't resetting then move on.  I spent HOURS hunched over my son's crib trying to resettle naps and I swore I would not do that again.

Your day may end up looking like E-A-S-A-E-S if that make sense?  It is a process and it takes a while to get a predictable pattern of EAS.

When she's OT, just AP if you have to.  Try for naps in a swing, carrier/wrap/sling, rock her...whatever.  Right now I aim for 1 good nap in her bassinet(her morning nap). It will all come eventually

[SassyJs]

What happens if you try to resettle for 15 minutes and get LO out of cot but it's time and the LO falls asleep feeding because overtired? It becomes a vicious cycle I do not know how to break because of short naps.

[lily_layne]

At that age I would let her sleep. Sometimes one or two long naps can break a cycle of short naps.

[Lindsay27]

It is a cycle but it will come around . Your routine may go E-A-S-A-E-S and like you suggested LO will fall asleep during that second S because they are OT and I agree with pp, just let her sleep if she falls asleep eating.   How old is your LO and what are you current A times?  Mine is 8 weeks now and she's stopped taking that long morning nap and is only doing 45 min stints so I know how frustrating it is.  I find up until about 12 weeks you kind of have to go with the flow until you can get a more predictable A time and longer naps.

If resettling doesn't work have you tried APing that second half of the nap after LO wakes?  I've done that a few times just so my DD doesn't become crazy OT.

[michaeljacknnugg]

I'm just going to comment from a breastfeeding point of view...my guy is twelve weeks now and at first we were trying to get him to go longer between feeds with the dummy. Following his lead though I noticed that if I fed him more, he needed the dummy less and slept longer at night.

Are you sure she doesn't need those feeds? Are you offering both sides? If she's trying to climb the centiles like my guy (born on 25th, last time he was weighed he was above the 75th) she will be needing the calories. If she's taking a full feed every 1.5hrs that's what she needs right now and she's not snacking.

[lily_layne]

If she's taking a full feed every 1.5hrs that's what she needs right now and she's not snacking.

Good point! I worried a lot about my DD's frequent feeding but I can see now that she needed the calories - she wasn't snacking.

[SassyJs]

At that age I would let her sleep. Sometimes one or two long naps can break a cycle of short naps.

I see. He is 8 weeks I try to put him down around 1 hour, 1 hour 15 mins. He is quite Touchy often fusses before settling and viola 45 minutes nap!

[Lindsay27]

We have the 45min naps here too and we are doing about the same A times...usually around 1.15hr.  At this age I think the 45min naps are more a case of not being able to transition between sleep cycles vs being UT.  Do you ever try to resettle?

[SassyJs]

Yes I try to resettle but it gets hysterical I move on. The day ends cranky. And nights are erratic too. What time does your LO wake up? Same time daily?

[Lindsay27]

No our wake up time really depends on when the last NF was.  It can really be anywhere between 6am-8am and I just try to start the day from there.

I can't remember, is your LO swaddled?  We are still getting short naps here too so I feel your pain.  Do you have a sling at all so you can maybe AP a longer nap?  Sometimes if things get really bad I just rock my DD for a whole nap if I can (on days DS is at preschool) just to catch her up.